The present invention relates to a cigar feed unit. More specifically, the present invention relates to a unit for feeding single cigars from a hopper to a pocket conveyor.
In known cigar feed devices, the cigars are piled inside a hopper having at least one bottom outlet connected to a respective downfeed channel, and both the hopper outlet and the downfeed channel are so sized as to permit successive passage of single cigars oriented crosswise to the feed direction along the downfeed channel. The cigars are fed by force of gravity, one on top of the other, down the channel; and a movable gate at the bottom retains the stack of cigars inside the channel, and is opened intermittently to feed single cigars onto a feed conveyor.
In such devices, the cigars are substantially allowed to drop one by one onto the feed conveyor, and, being fragile, are therefore subject to damage on impact.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a cigar feed unit designed to eliminate the aforementioned drawbacks, and which, in particular, provides for feeding single cigars in controlled manner at all times into the respective pockets on the pocket conveyor.
According to the present invention, there is provided a cigar feed unit, the unit comprising a pocket conveyor having a number of pockets and for feeding single cigars successively in a given direction, and a feed device for feeding said cigars successively into respective said pockets in time with the pockets; said feed device comprising an input hopper, and at least one channel having an inlet communicating with said hopper, and an outlet facing said pocket conveyor; the channel having a longitudinal axis extending downwards towards said outlet, and receiving a number of cigars oriented crosswise to said axis; and the feed unit being characterized in that said feed device also comprises at least one movable transfer member interposed between said outlet and said pocket conveyor, and for feeding said cigars successively into respective said pockets; and conveying means extending along at least part of said channel to feed single cigars successively to said outlet in time with said transfer member.